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A/N: Ya'll are doing a great job reviewing, and I appreciate the feedback. Keep it up! Read on!
Chapter 12-Into the Enemy Camps
Delaney was satisfied with the work they had accomplished that afternoon. After Dam came and rounded them up, she took a second glance over the plans, truly pleased at how well they turned out. It was neatly done, on paper. But so many things could go wrong in real life...she stubbornly pushed the awful mental images that sprang up away. They were Elves, weren't they? That meant a distinct advantage over all of their human opponents. Swift, silent, deadly fighters, even at their teens. But the humans could be better. They would just have to use all the subterfuge skills they had. It sounded so easy; could they, three teenage Elves, really pull it off?
Delaney cursed Legolas for making her go first. Even if it was with Tracie, she wanted to wait and see what happened first, before she was volunteered to go sneak into an enemy camp. Well, she couldn't say they were badly equipped. They had their knives, full quivers and bows, traveling lembas, parchment, quills and ink, and rope. When asked why the rope was there, Delaney merely shrugged and replied,
"For dangerous missions, you always need rope." Everyone present shrugged as well and conceded that this was more or less true. The rope stayed.
Two days later, around midnight, the three of them were clustered on the outskirts of the valley. Legolas wished them good luck, double-checked the return plans, then slipped away, as silently as a shadow. Even through her apprehension, Delaney felt a stab of jealousy. Well, she looked on the bright side; even the clumsiest Elf could walk more silently than a short, overweight human. She looked at Tracie and nodded. They set off at a fast pace, into the surrounding forest, towards imminent peril.
They were silent for the duration of the hike. Tracie, like herself, must have felt that the slightest whisper would bring the enemy down on them from the trees. Finally, after an hour of walking, Tracie broke the silence.
"Hey, let's take a quick break. My feet are killing me," she whispered. Delaney felt fine, but she agreed and they stopped for a five minute breather anyway. Then, with unspoken mutual consent, they stood up and continued on.
Two hours later, they saw the first signs of enemy camp: firelight. They slowed down and retreated back.
"Now what?" hissed Tracie, "this was your idea, let's hear it." Delaney frowned for a moment. There was a strange sensation in the back of her head. Rose was saying something, but it was too quiet, almost...fading. Then she shook her head to clear it.
"Okay, we'll split up and do this. You take the west, I'll take the east. Do a headcount, and add whatever you think is relevant. We got this far, so let's do it!" Tracie grinned, if a bit of a strained one. Then, they split up with a hastily whispered "Good luck!" Delaney trekked east, silent as a shadow. She crept up, so close she could have poked the mercenary sleeping by the shrubbery she used as cover. Silently, she counted the sleeping soldiers as quickly as she could. Other than that, there was nothing of importance. There weren't any incoming caravans; there were several small tents, but mostly the soldiers slept in open air. Then, just as she was about to turn and go back to meet Tracie, something shattered the peaceful night. She heard her friend's unmistakably musical voice cry out, panicky,
"Ta naa neuma!" What? She didn't understand anything! The faded sensation of Rose in her head grew. -Rose! What's happening?!- Her voice was quiet, as if from far away. ~I can't hear you...so far away...pull me back! Quick!~ Delaney wasted precious moments mentally pulling her friend back from wherever she was slipping. Suddenly, Tracie's warning hit her as a lot more dire. It was a trap! She unsheathed Trustworthy clumsily and whirled around, just as a fighter dived for her.
Rosellyn surged back from the depths of mental blackness like one of Legolas' arrows, shooting into control so fast she almost got whiplash. She finished the Man with a slash, Trustworthy and then Diamondsong flashing in the night like chain lightining. She looked around, quickly assessing the situation. There were too many; she had to get to Tracie, and then get away. Felling a particularly stupid soldier and ducking under another's sword, she jumped and grabbed for an overhanging branch. -Here. I was just getting you out of there.- It felt like Delaney was smiling.
"He's climbing away! Someone with a bow! Don't just gawp, shoot him, shoot him!" Annoyed, Delaney leapt like a cat from branch to branch, higher and higher. She could climb; desperate to get her excersize, her mother had taken her to a rock-climbing gym, where she fell in love with the sport. She climbed to what she deemed was a safe height and looked down at the blind Men. Then, she took the hat from her head and stuffed it in her belt, shaking her hair free. Taking advantage of the silence that ensued and leapt to another tree. Then, to another, higher and away. No time to go around to where Tracie was; she'd have to hope her friend had gotten away safely to the meeting spot.
She did, bringing, just as Delaney was, an entourage of enemy soldiers. And she, like Delaney, decided to do a monkey impression.
"Come on," shouted Delaney, making sure that Rosellyn was still in the back of her mind, safe and sound. "We can route them to the other site. Move north! Now!" Tracie smiled, and Delaney made a quick check. She was unhurt, as was Tracie.
"Did you get a count?" she asked nonchalantly, as if they weren't leaping from tree to tree, dodging arrows and being chased by Men. Delaney ducked a leaf-flighted arrow before answering.
"Roughly two hundred soldiers on my side. How about you?"
"More of the same. Maybe about fifty more. Watch your left!" Delaney grabbed the arrow in question and lobbed it back at the mob below, rewarded by a faint cry and a curse. Now that she was paying attention, she realized that the soldiers were yelling insults at them. She marveled at listening to Tracie speak; until Rosellyn had almost gotten ripped away, she never noticed how she heard two languages at the same time. She heard it in Elvish with her ears, but her mind converted it to English. When she spoke, the same thing happened. She decided to try it out again. She yelled to the soldiers below:
"Lle n'vanima ar'lle atara lenneina!" Or, 'You're ugly and your mother dresses you funny.' Those that knew Elven roared with anger and she heard several snatches of shouts. She laughed like a maniac and pushed on. A mile later, she saw the next camp. Like a charm, the two camps clashed. By the time they realized they were fighting each other, the two girls were away like the wind.
They made it back to Wanderer's Glade a little bit after dawn. Tracie collapsed by the lake with a sigh, watching the early sunlight cast patterns of glittering diamonds on the water's surface. Rosellyn did the same, glad to get off her feet. Even if the soldiers knew where they were heading, their orders were to stay clear of any Elven civilazation; they could stew about it, but they would have to obey. Besides, they were long gone by the time the two camps started fighting each other; two running Elves were almost impossible to detect unless you were another Elf. Legolas ran out to meet them about twenty minutes later, afire with a morbid, teenage-like curiousity.
"So, what have you got?" Rosellyn glared at him.
"A side cramp and a headache. You?" He laughed, evidently not realizing the snappish mood his friends were in.
"I'm sorry. Did you get a headcount or not? I mean, have we got a prayer of overthrowing these guys or what? Did they have any terrible machines of destruction that spells annihilation for Mirkwood? Come on, don't leave me hanging!" Now it was Tracie's turn to bite his head off, and she did so admirably.
"If we ever leave you hanging, Greenleaf, it'll be by a rope from a tree. Will you please give it a rest?!" Something in Tracie's tone caused him to back up a bit, thoroughly chastened. But only for a moment. After all, HE hadn't been running and dodging arrows all night, had he?
"Okay, I'm sorry. I'll wait till you're feeling better." He sat down in front of them. "Feeling better?"
"NO!" Came the immediate response. He admitted defeat and took the task upon himself to search their knapsacks, keeping up a running commentary that only added to her bad mood.
"Hm, your ink bottle spilled, Trace, you should have recapped it better. Same with you, Rose. Where are your pens, did you lose those too? Sheesh. Look, you didn't eat any of your lembas, no wonder you're all wiped out. You want to spy, you better eat, you know. Where's your papers? I assume that since you lost your pens and spilled the ink that you had to at least write something down. Wait, is it in this pocket? No, it's empty. Boy, these things are beat up. Looks like you started attacking it with a knife. Actually, this looks more like arrows. Dull arrows. But if it was arrows, the angle of this suggests you'd have to be above the shooter. Poor quality steel, by the fraying of it. Well, are you going to explain any of this, or not? I'm not Galadriel, I can't read your mind, but wouldn't that be cool? I always thought that-"
"Are you finished yet?" asked Tracie tartly.
"Yeah, stop and breathe every once in awhile," added Rose. He sighed, the picture of patience, and set the knapsacks down.
"Ready when you are," he said. Tracie looked at Rosellyn, grinned, and stood up, stretching laboriously.
"You know, we're really wiped out...I think we'll be ready, oh, tomorrow. G'night, Greenleaf." Rosellyn followed suit.
"I agree. Time to hit the hay. See you tomorrow morning." Then they picked up their sacks and began to walk away. He moved like lightning and dodged in front of them.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Will you PLEASE tell me what the situtation is?"
"Hm, what do you think, Trace? Should we tell him?"
"Gee, I dunno. He's been awfully unsenstive to our plight."
"You're right. See ya." Legolas looked like he was about to go crazy.
"No! Don't go, come on, no one could be that cruel! Do you see this face, how can you say no to this face?" He put on his best puppy dog face, hoping to break them. Tracie laughed and sat down.
"Well, since you put it that way, how could we refuse? Come on, we'll show you what we got." They dug the papers with the figures on them out of their pockets and put them on display. He looked at them shrewdly.
"Only about four hundred in the camp? I don't know, guys. Awaren might be right; how could this many pose much of a threat?"
"Hey, just because two camps had this much doesn't mean there aren't uncounted billions in the other ten. Besides, they are a lot smarter than we take them for." Tracie went on to explain how they had gotten themselves in the middle of the enemy force. "Kind of hard to tell in the heat of battle, but there was a lot more than four hundred. Then again, there's probably a little less, now." Legolas laughed as she described the chaos that the mixing of the camps had brought.
"Pretty good battle tactics, you two! You make a pretty good pair."
"So glad you think so. Did anyone notice we were gone?" Legolas shrugged unconcernedly.
"Not as far as I know. But they WILL get kind of suspicious if they find us all down here, with you two looking like you just tripped into a thorn shrub." She smiled wryly; that was probably a pretty accurate description of how they looked right about now. But she saw his point and hurried on.
"They were basically your standard war camps, but the warlord obviously wasn't there. I'm thinking that we be a little more on our guard the next time, and search in a wider perimeter around each camp, see the whole picture. Maybe even risk walking through the camps, to see what we can see, you know?" They both nodded.
"Sounds good. Who's going tonight?" Tracie stood and stretched.
"You and me, Greenleaf. Guess that means I better get my rest today. Okay, can we meet at your house today, Legolas? We can't do it at my house for obvious reasons, and someone's going to know something's up if we keep plotting at Rose's. Besides, at your flet we don't run the risk of small ears eavesdropping."
"Sounds like a plan to me. After lunch sometime. Now go before anyone misses you." They nodded and ran to their own respective homes, Rose sneaking in her bedroom window about half an hour before Dam usually checked on her. She hastily changed into her nightgown and slipped into bed. Even though she hadn't felt any exhaustion because of adrenaline, the second she hit the pillow she was out like a light.
A/N: Adrenaline will do that to you...let's hope Legolas and Tracie have better luck with their mission!
A/N: Ya'll are doing a great job reviewing, and I appreciate the feedback. Keep it up! Read on!
Chapter 12-Into the Enemy Camps
Delaney was satisfied with the work they had accomplished that afternoon. After Dam came and rounded them up, she took a second glance over the plans, truly pleased at how well they turned out. It was neatly done, on paper. But so many things could go wrong in real life...she stubbornly pushed the awful mental images that sprang up away. They were Elves, weren't they? That meant a distinct advantage over all of their human opponents. Swift, silent, deadly fighters, even at their teens. But the humans could be better. They would just have to use all the subterfuge skills they had. It sounded so easy; could they, three teenage Elves, really pull it off?
Delaney cursed Legolas for making her go first. Even if it was with Tracie, she wanted to wait and see what happened first, before she was volunteered to go sneak into an enemy camp. Well, she couldn't say they were badly equipped. They had their knives, full quivers and bows, traveling lembas, parchment, quills and ink, and rope. When asked why the rope was there, Delaney merely shrugged and replied,
"For dangerous missions, you always need rope." Everyone present shrugged as well and conceded that this was more or less true. The rope stayed.
Two days later, around midnight, the three of them were clustered on the outskirts of the valley. Legolas wished them good luck, double-checked the return plans, then slipped away, as silently as a shadow. Even through her apprehension, Delaney felt a stab of jealousy. Well, she looked on the bright side; even the clumsiest Elf could walk more silently than a short, overweight human. She looked at Tracie and nodded. They set off at a fast pace, into the surrounding forest, towards imminent peril.
They were silent for the duration of the hike. Tracie, like herself, must have felt that the slightest whisper would bring the enemy down on them from the trees. Finally, after an hour of walking, Tracie broke the silence.
"Hey, let's take a quick break. My feet are killing me," she whispered. Delaney felt fine, but she agreed and they stopped for a five minute breather anyway. Then, with unspoken mutual consent, they stood up and continued on.
Two hours later, they saw the first signs of enemy camp: firelight. They slowed down and retreated back.
"Now what?" hissed Tracie, "this was your idea, let's hear it." Delaney frowned for a moment. There was a strange sensation in the back of her head. Rose was saying something, but it was too quiet, almost...fading. Then she shook her head to clear it.
"Okay, we'll split up and do this. You take the west, I'll take the east. Do a headcount, and add whatever you think is relevant. We got this far, so let's do it!" Tracie grinned, if a bit of a strained one. Then, they split up with a hastily whispered "Good luck!" Delaney trekked east, silent as a shadow. She crept up, so close she could have poked the mercenary sleeping by the shrubbery she used as cover. Silently, she counted the sleeping soldiers as quickly as she could. Other than that, there was nothing of importance. There weren't any incoming caravans; there were several small tents, but mostly the soldiers slept in open air. Then, just as she was about to turn and go back to meet Tracie, something shattered the peaceful night. She heard her friend's unmistakably musical voice cry out, panicky,
"Ta naa neuma!" What? She didn't understand anything! The faded sensation of Rose in her head grew. -Rose! What's happening?!- Her voice was quiet, as if from far away. ~I can't hear you...so far away...pull me back! Quick!~ Delaney wasted precious moments mentally pulling her friend back from wherever she was slipping. Suddenly, Tracie's warning hit her as a lot more dire. It was a trap! She unsheathed Trustworthy clumsily and whirled around, just as a fighter dived for her.
Rosellyn surged back from the depths of mental blackness like one of Legolas' arrows, shooting into control so fast she almost got whiplash. She finished the Man with a slash, Trustworthy and then Diamondsong flashing in the night like chain lightining. She looked around, quickly assessing the situation. There were too many; she had to get to Tracie, and then get away. Felling a particularly stupid soldier and ducking under another's sword, she jumped and grabbed for an overhanging branch. -Here. I was just getting you out of there.- It felt like Delaney was smiling.
"He's climbing away! Someone with a bow! Don't just gawp, shoot him, shoot him!" Annoyed, Delaney leapt like a cat from branch to branch, higher and higher. She could climb; desperate to get her excersize, her mother had taken her to a rock-climbing gym, where she fell in love with the sport. She climbed to what she deemed was a safe height and looked down at the blind Men. Then, she took the hat from her head and stuffed it in her belt, shaking her hair free. Taking advantage of the silence that ensued and leapt to another tree. Then, to another, higher and away. No time to go around to where Tracie was; she'd have to hope her friend had gotten away safely to the meeting spot.
She did, bringing, just as Delaney was, an entourage of enemy soldiers. And she, like Delaney, decided to do a monkey impression.
"Come on," shouted Delaney, making sure that Rosellyn was still in the back of her mind, safe and sound. "We can route them to the other site. Move north! Now!" Tracie smiled, and Delaney made a quick check. She was unhurt, as was Tracie.
"Did you get a count?" she asked nonchalantly, as if they weren't leaping from tree to tree, dodging arrows and being chased by Men. Delaney ducked a leaf-flighted arrow before answering.
"Roughly two hundred soldiers on my side. How about you?"
"More of the same. Maybe about fifty more. Watch your left!" Delaney grabbed the arrow in question and lobbed it back at the mob below, rewarded by a faint cry and a curse. Now that she was paying attention, she realized that the soldiers were yelling insults at them. She marveled at listening to Tracie speak; until Rosellyn had almost gotten ripped away, she never noticed how she heard two languages at the same time. She heard it in Elvish with her ears, but her mind converted it to English. When she spoke, the same thing happened. She decided to try it out again. She yelled to the soldiers below:
"Lle n'vanima ar'lle atara lenneina!" Or, 'You're ugly and your mother dresses you funny.' Those that knew Elven roared with anger and she heard several snatches of shouts. She laughed like a maniac and pushed on. A mile later, she saw the next camp. Like a charm, the two camps clashed. By the time they realized they were fighting each other, the two girls were away like the wind.
They made it back to Wanderer's Glade a little bit after dawn. Tracie collapsed by the lake with a sigh, watching the early sunlight cast patterns of glittering diamonds on the water's surface. Rosellyn did the same, glad to get off her feet. Even if the soldiers knew where they were heading, their orders were to stay clear of any Elven civilazation; they could stew about it, but they would have to obey. Besides, they were long gone by the time the two camps started fighting each other; two running Elves were almost impossible to detect unless you were another Elf. Legolas ran out to meet them about twenty minutes later, afire with a morbid, teenage-like curiousity.
"So, what have you got?" Rosellyn glared at him.
"A side cramp and a headache. You?" He laughed, evidently not realizing the snappish mood his friends were in.
"I'm sorry. Did you get a headcount or not? I mean, have we got a prayer of overthrowing these guys or what? Did they have any terrible machines of destruction that spells annihilation for Mirkwood? Come on, don't leave me hanging!" Now it was Tracie's turn to bite his head off, and she did so admirably.
"If we ever leave you hanging, Greenleaf, it'll be by a rope from a tree. Will you please give it a rest?!" Something in Tracie's tone caused him to back up a bit, thoroughly chastened. But only for a moment. After all, HE hadn't been running and dodging arrows all night, had he?
"Okay, I'm sorry. I'll wait till you're feeling better." He sat down in front of them. "Feeling better?"
"NO!" Came the immediate response. He admitted defeat and took the task upon himself to search their knapsacks, keeping up a running commentary that only added to her bad mood.
"Hm, your ink bottle spilled, Trace, you should have recapped it better. Same with you, Rose. Where are your pens, did you lose those too? Sheesh. Look, you didn't eat any of your lembas, no wonder you're all wiped out. You want to spy, you better eat, you know. Where's your papers? I assume that since you lost your pens and spilled the ink that you had to at least write something down. Wait, is it in this pocket? No, it's empty. Boy, these things are beat up. Looks like you started attacking it with a knife. Actually, this looks more like arrows. Dull arrows. But if it was arrows, the angle of this suggests you'd have to be above the shooter. Poor quality steel, by the fraying of it. Well, are you going to explain any of this, or not? I'm not Galadriel, I can't read your mind, but wouldn't that be cool? I always thought that-"
"Are you finished yet?" asked Tracie tartly.
"Yeah, stop and breathe every once in awhile," added Rose. He sighed, the picture of patience, and set the knapsacks down.
"Ready when you are," he said. Tracie looked at Rosellyn, grinned, and stood up, stretching laboriously.
"You know, we're really wiped out...I think we'll be ready, oh, tomorrow. G'night, Greenleaf." Rosellyn followed suit.
"I agree. Time to hit the hay. See you tomorrow morning." Then they picked up their sacks and began to walk away. He moved like lightning and dodged in front of them.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Will you PLEASE tell me what the situtation is?"
"Hm, what do you think, Trace? Should we tell him?"
"Gee, I dunno. He's been awfully unsenstive to our plight."
"You're right. See ya." Legolas looked like he was about to go crazy.
"No! Don't go, come on, no one could be that cruel! Do you see this face, how can you say no to this face?" He put on his best puppy dog face, hoping to break them. Tracie laughed and sat down.
"Well, since you put it that way, how could we refuse? Come on, we'll show you what we got." They dug the papers with the figures on them out of their pockets and put them on display. He looked at them shrewdly.
"Only about four hundred in the camp? I don't know, guys. Awaren might be right; how could this many pose much of a threat?"
"Hey, just because two camps had this much doesn't mean there aren't uncounted billions in the other ten. Besides, they are a lot smarter than we take them for." Tracie went on to explain how they had gotten themselves in the middle of the enemy force. "Kind of hard to tell in the heat of battle, but there was a lot more than four hundred. Then again, there's probably a little less, now." Legolas laughed as she described the chaos that the mixing of the camps had brought.
"Pretty good battle tactics, you two! You make a pretty good pair."
"So glad you think so. Did anyone notice we were gone?" Legolas shrugged unconcernedly.
"Not as far as I know. But they WILL get kind of suspicious if they find us all down here, with you two looking like you just tripped into a thorn shrub." She smiled wryly; that was probably a pretty accurate description of how they looked right about now. But she saw his point and hurried on.
"They were basically your standard war camps, but the warlord obviously wasn't there. I'm thinking that we be a little more on our guard the next time, and search in a wider perimeter around each camp, see the whole picture. Maybe even risk walking through the camps, to see what we can see, you know?" They both nodded.
"Sounds good. Who's going tonight?" Tracie stood and stretched.
"You and me, Greenleaf. Guess that means I better get my rest today. Okay, can we meet at your house today, Legolas? We can't do it at my house for obvious reasons, and someone's going to know something's up if we keep plotting at Rose's. Besides, at your flet we don't run the risk of small ears eavesdropping."
"Sounds like a plan to me. After lunch sometime. Now go before anyone misses you." They nodded and ran to their own respective homes, Rose sneaking in her bedroom window about half an hour before Dam usually checked on her. She hastily changed into her nightgown and slipped into bed. Even though she hadn't felt any exhaustion because of adrenaline, the second she hit the pillow she was out like a light.
A/N: Adrenaline will do that to you...let's hope Legolas and Tracie have better luck with their mission!